Excelsior
Founding Forged in a savagely emotionally trial-by-fire from Black Unicorn, Excelsior was taught from the first moment the path they sought would be a painful one in every sense - physically of course, but also mentally and spiritually. True honor and chivalry came with great cost and the choices would rarely be black or white. Not a single member was left untouched, though in the brief time after it's quickly serving to solidify the pack as a whole as they come to terms with what they witnessed and the days to come. Word has spread fast among the enemy in regards to the first appearance of the pack - namely a Noble-As-#@!* Silver Fang beheading a balefire-spewing Spiral with a Klaive and making it look stupidly easy. This led to the immediate buggering off of the rest of the Dancer pack with such a speed it was if Gaia herself appeared with a rolled up newspaper. Additionally, word has it a Shadow Lord cub in Colorado claims he received 'assistance' from the pack after he had been abducted by said Spirals and confirms the story, though with the decided addition 'I've seen more impressive Silver Fangs'. It was some time later that the pack, seeing to redeem their failures for letting the other Spirals survive and the insult to Moros it caused, went back to finish the job. It was a great success, with no permanent injury to a single Gaian and the abject destruction of the Spiral pack - who were even armed with silver in preparation for the inevitable confrontation. Moros formally joined the pack and they returned home satisfied. Dakota, Reed, and Sunshine returned later to help Cleanse the Glade the Spirals were perverting along with the assistance of Praeses. In lupus, the pack's name is Ever Higher, both the literal translation as well as naming the ideals behind the pack in regards to both Honor and Glory and their own strength of character. The founding members of the pack are Alicia, Dirk, Dakota, Aaron, Moros, Reed, and Sunshine. Code of Conduct "We will love Gaia and maintain her people, serve our elders in valor and faith, protect the weak and defenseless, give succor to orphans and those ravaged by war, refrain from the wanton giving of offense, live by honor and glory, despise all pecuniary rewards, fight for the welfare of all, obey those placed in authority, guard the honor of all who follow the Code, eschew unfairness, meanness, and deceit, keep the faith, at all times speak the truth, persevere to the end in any enterprise begun, respect the honor of our peers, never refuse a challenge from an equal, and never turn our backs against our foes." Code in Bullets Listed in order of importance, so higher entries supersede lower entries if two come into conflict with each other. (So, start from the bottom and work up.) * We will love Gaia and maintain her people. ** Short: Protect Gaia and Garou, kin, etc. ** Notes: This includes the protection of a Caern and other areas of power essential to Gaia's survival. Nothing will be done to jeopardize these place, Gaia, or her people. * We will serve our elders in valor and faith. ** Short: Respect and protect any considered an elder. ** Notes: These include elders by age as well as elders by status (tribal leaders). Those with wisdom are treasures to be respected and protected. * We will protect the weak and defenseless. ** Short: Protect the weak. ** Notes: This includes kin and non-kin, human and wolf, animals and spirits alike. * We will give succor to orphans and those ravaged by war. ** Short: Give relief to those in need. ** Notes: Specifically lost cubs, kinfolk, and those affected by the war to protect Gaia. * We will refrain from the wanton giving of offense. ** Short: Don't be a dick. ** Notes: Don't be a dick. * We will live by honor and glory. ** Short: Be glorious and honorable. ** Notes: Tenets of Honor and Glory. * We will despise all pecuniary rewards. ** Short: Don't accept rewards. ** Notes: Honor is it's own reward. (Also renown.) * We fight for the welfare of all. ** Short: Don't discriminate. ** Notes: Fighting for a better world, here. We don't pick and choose who we defend; all good creatures have the same right to be defended. * We obey those placed in authority. ** Short: Obey the leaders. ** Notes: Be a good soldier and do as you're told. * We guard the Honor of all who follow the Code. ** Short: Stand up for the pack. ** Notes: Don't doubt others who follow the Code, and stand by them always * We eschew unfairness, meanness, and deceit. ** Short: Don't be an ass. ** Notes: We are fair in all of our dealings and avoid or call out situations where terms or a situation is unfair. We are also compassionate and truthful, and don't tolerate any less should we see it. * We keep the faith. ** Short: Always believe. ** Notes: This is about conviction and staying strong to your ideals (faith) in the face of adversity. * We at all times speak the truth. ** Short: Be honest. ** Notes: This is about intent, within context. Don't obfuscate the truth unless a higher tenet would be broken. * We persevere to the end in any enterprise begun. ** Short: If you start, finish. ** Notes: Really. * We respect the honor of our peers. ** Short: Be respectful. ** Notes: Peers with honor should be respected appropriately, no matter how much you may dislike them or disagree with them. * We never refuse a challenge from an equal. ** Short: Don't back down. ** Notes: But don't be stupid. Equality is a matter of rank amongst Gaian Garou. * We never turn our backs on our foes. ** Short: Never run. ** Notes: Really. Fight until the enemy is dead, fled, or has capitulated. Territory Kent Crossing, County Line, Highway 22, and surrounding woodlands. Totem ] * Pack Name: Excelsior * Full Spirit Name: Praeses Vero Flammae Tenebras Coeles - Guardian of the Heavenly Shadow of Flame * Totem Appearance: Praeses appears as a gargantuan, unspeakably black unicorn, exchanging the deer-like grace of the white totem for the power of an ancient war charger. The spirit's horn is a spiral of dark red and deep blue, like ice and fire dancing towards the tip which glows with such power as to be alike a tiny star. The unicorn's hooves are black and rich red, as if burning wood left to smolder and where they are in contact with the ground, shadowy flames arise. Around them feathery fur curls and billows like black smoke, the same as his mane and tail which starts like the thin appendage of a lion before filling out into a horse's tail. There is even a traditional beard, equally ephemeral, on his chin. * Totem Personality: He is a spirit of few words, but when he speaks it is with the gravity of one who expects to be heard and listened to. When the spirit speaks, it is majesty, power, and rage. There is anger there, but it is justly righteous and full of conviction. It evokes layered images of the souls of Merlin, Catherine the Great, Odin, Hera, the kings and queens, gods and goddesses, the powerful voices of legends. Praeses embodies the traits of chivalry and honor, a knight of the old ways who holds steadfast to his beliefs - for he Is as much these ideals as he is a force for them. To break his tenants is to cause the deepest of personal offenses, ones not likely to be forgiven save by a quest of redemption. He expects all who follow him to live by his ideals and lead others by example. * Special Notes: This totem is Feared By the Wyrm. If Excelsior is involved in Wyrm-based GM scenes, please feel free to employ this trait. Wyrm forces will either flee or do their level best to destroy this pack. * +Sheet: Established Events Date and Time for events of which Excelsior is part: * 5/??/14: Dreamscape -- Dakota states she dreamed of a crossroads - forest, desert, mountain, and lake. At the lake was an ancient turtle spirit, meditating in an area of peace and serenity. She does not feel it was an idle dream. * 5/??/14: Sheltered Misery -- Alicia, Dakota, and Charlene have agreed to bring a Valkyrie Fury spirit offerings of Hope, Healing, and Cleansing in order for the spirit to allow them to Cleanse the blight forming at the Kent Crossing woman's shelter. * 5/14/14 (approx): DNA Plot -- While out walking, Alicia, Reed, and Dakota discovered a ragged wolf near the tracks. Charlene was also on the scene. Alicia and Charlene managed to recover the nervous, confused animal who was revealed to have been operated on with healed, even knife cuts and apparently fake eyes with no eyelids. Reed and Dakota did recon in the area and found a black van the wolf had come from, along with an armed man scouting from the top. They all escaped without apparent incident. Later, Dakota brought up concerns the eyes were actually cameras used to spy, which was soon proven true. While feelings were mixed on killing the wolf or no, the decision was made to try and help her and the wolf was turned over to the Glass Walkers who were successful in removing the rest of the tech from the wolf and secretly relocating her. * 5/30/14: ONS -- At the train tracks, Dakota and Reed encounter the ghostly replay of an 1800's era train crashing into what was once a settlement on the site. After following the clues from one of the ghosts, they discovered a pair of old military dog tags. They subsequently returned them to the descendants of the owner. * 5/30/14: DNA Plot -- At the same time, Alicia and Aaron were involved in a scouting trip in Vancouver to help research the scientific vans after tracking the license plate found from Dakota during the wolf rescue. With Slug and Riley's help, they were able to bug the vans with one-way transmitting GPS units and steal information of the CEO's computer via thumb drive. Slug was able to get addresses located on shipping materials inside the storage unit. * 5/31/14: What Lies Beneath -- Alicia, Reed, and Dakota encounter three Fomori near Highway 22. Along with Little Silvertip, they are quickly dispatched without injury to any Garou. They were human once, with signs of boils and sores with black eyes and ice cold, thick 'blood'. Alicia recovered wallet from two of them, both men (the third a woman) to try and track down who they were and look for the source of corruption. * 6/1/14: What Lies Beneath -- Alicia, Reed, Sunshine and Norman went to the home of the three Fomori to scout for clues. They were confronted by visions of magpies and dead bodies inside. Alicia found an odd gouge mark in the bathroom that represented letters of some sort. After staring at them, she became transfixed and could not move, having visions of drowning. The walls then began to bleed the same black ooze found inside the fomori. It was at that point the pack decided to leave and find other Garou more competent in dealing with haunted houses. * 6/14/14: Viv joins the pack. * 6/18/14 & 6/20/14: Realpolitik -- A messenger, named Hungry Ghost, for a pack of Spiral Dancers approached Excelsior asking for the pack's aid in removing Renegade, the Hive leader of Seattle. The pack declined after conferring with sept leadership to alert them. From what they could determine, this pack destroyed another Spiral pack when they refused to help - the ones who were supposed to lead the attacks on the Sept. The decline went peacefully, but the pack remains on extremely high alert. They have reason to believe this pack has ulterior motives relating back to the Beast of War itself. * 6/21/14: What Lies Beneath/Great Hunt 2014 -- Armed with four talens of healing Dakota made, Alicia and Praeses attended the Great Hunt while the remainder of Excelsior defended the bawn. There, they encountered Spirals bearing the same oily, cold traits as found from the haunted house fomori and two unusual spirits. One was a blue flame that Praeses defeated with aid from the Garou who, also, Ignored a Command from Norman. The other was a gnarled humanoid one that sent the pack totems fleeing but was dispatched very easily despite it's heavily tainting influence. The Hunt was a success overall. * 8/30/14: Moros departs the pack and Sept. * 10/02/14: For personal reasons, Aaron and Sunshine depart the pack. * 10/05/14: Jamethon joins the pack. * 11/??/14: Buzzards and Rednecks -- In an assist on a mission of Val's to take out a Buzzard and kill a Spiral kinfamily present, Reed, Dakota, and Alicia discover a baby who had just been Baptised as a Philodox Spiral. Recovered after its kin and Baptiser were slain, an Exorcism was later performed and the baby found an adoptive father in Benedict. The presumed Spiral relatives of the child were soon to discover the girl had been taken and began stealing children around St. Claire as retribution. * 12/13/14: Aaron returns and rejoin the pack. * 12/16/14: Buzzards and Rednecks -- Excelsior killed a spiral pack linked to the cub that they rescued and was kidnapping children in St. Claire in retaliation. They met the five spirals in an old farm field and faced off in battle. The 'redneck pack' that they are dubbed were outmatched for Excelsior's experience and ferocity. * 1/17/15: Dakota succeeds in her Adren challenge, bringing new strength to the pack. * 4/16/15: Helen, Fostern Ragabash Black Fury, joins the pack. * 3/6/16: Alicia, pack alpha, leaves the pack. * 3/25/16: After discussion, it was decided that with several members occupied with personal duties, the absence of their founding Alpha, and others feeling called to other duties, that the pack would formally disband. The rite of Honoring the Spirit Friend is performed to bid Praeses farewell. Category:War Packs Category:Past Packs